Setting out a list of the longest words that can be typed on a keyboard with only the left hand necessarily depends on two factors: the language at issue and the keyboard configuration being used. Different countries and regions often have slightly different letter arrangements and character keys. Most keyboards for the English-speaking world are arranged in what’s commonly known as “QWERTY” fashion. All of the letters of the alphabet are arranged into three rows. Ten letters are on the top, beginning with QWERTY; 9 are in the middle; and 7 are at the bottom. They appear in a staggered fashion and are believed to be arranged in a pattern that maximizes efficiency while typing. A “left handed” keyboard work is one that can be typed easily with only the left hand, which is to say the left half of the keyboard. In general the longest English language words that can be typed in this fashion are 12 letters long, and include words like “stewardesses,” “reverberated,” and “desegregated.” Besides being a fun piece of trivia, people often use left handed words as passwords since they can be easily typed while the right hand is occupied working a mouse or cursor.
Basics of Keyboard Arrangement
Keyboard arrangement can be somewhat baffling to people who aren’t expecting the layout. There doesn’t often appear to be any rhyme or reason to the ordering, and letters often look somewhat jumbled. There is usually a science behind it, though. Linguistic researchers generally believe that they layout of the keys reflects the frequency of their use in a given language, with those letters that are more depended upon being placed in locations where they are easier and more convenient to strike.
Understanding “Handedness” of Words
In general, keyboards aren’t designed with hand dominance in mind. While it is true that most people are “right handed,” which is to say that their right hand is their dominant hand, both hands are used equally in typing. Dividing words by right and left hands is basically just an assignation of the words that can be made with the letters on only the left or right side of the keyboard.
Left Handed Examples
On a standard English language keyboard, the fingers of the left hand are intended to be placed on the A S D and F keys of the middle row. This positioning assigns the left hand to all of the following letters: Q W E R T A S D F G Z X C V and B. These letters can be used to spell a variety of long words including the following:
- abracadabra
- aftereffects
- aftertastes
- afterwards
- cabbages
- crabgrasses
- databases
- desegregated
- gazettes
- readdressed
- reverberated
- stagecraft
- steadfast
- stewardesses
- sweetbreads
- tradecrafts
- vertebrates
- wastewaters
- watercrafts
- watercress
Benefits and Usefulness
Knowing these words can be useful in certain situations. Since most right handed people use their right hand to manipulate a pointing device such as a mouse or touchpad, their left hand is free to remain on the keyboard when doing computer tasks. Left hand-exclusive words can be a good and efficient choice for usernames and passwords, particularly when combined with some of the numbers and symbols on this side of the keyboard. The numbers 1 2 3 4 and 5 are easily accessible by the left hand and can be a perfect accompaniment to left handed usernames and passwords.
Right Handed Examples
There are fewer long right handed keyboard words that can be composed on standard English keyboards. In general, right handed keyboard words can only include the following letters: Y U I O P H J K L N and M. Examples include the following:
- hokypoky
- lollipop
- minimill
- monohull
- monopoly
- polyphony